


A Siren's Song

by LateNiteSlacker



Category: Homestuck
Genre: AKA he's a mermaid, Dirk's a siren, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-16
Updated: 2015-01-09
Packaged: 2018-02-21 11:20:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2466389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LateNiteSlacker/pseuds/LateNiteSlacker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dirk is a siren that loves bringing ships to their doom.  Jake is a sailor.  Need I say more?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Shipwreck of Destiny

There was something profoundly glorious about watching the ships crash into the rocks.  The splitting of the timber as it cracked and splintered against the relentless stones.  The raw power behind the force of the impact.  The bending of the boat’s hull as it cracked into pieces.

Dirk loved it all.

Dirk would be lying if he said he didn’t also take some minor morbid pleasure in watching the sailors panic as they made a frantic swim for the shore.  There was a beauty in the human voice.  A delectability that he saw as a connoisseur of the sound.  The pitch of their screams, the varied timber of their vocal cords.

It was beauty.  Perfection.

Sirens were notorious for wrecking ships, after all.

Of course, Dirk was no murderer.  He didn’t hate and fear the humans like the rest of his kind.  When their boats invariably capsized, he would swim along in the waters deep below to make sure they made it safely to the shore.  So far, he had never had to intervene. 

They were sailors, after all.  What sailor didn’t know how to swim?

Dirk eyed the boat as it approached over the calm waters.  This craft was smaller than most.  He doubted that it would be very satisfying watching it crash into the rocks, but it had been a while since he had wooed a boat over for his amusement.  He could use a little fun.

Planting his strong hands onto a nearby rock, he hoisted himself out of the water and sat above sea-level, letting his tail dip casually in and out of the salty water.  When the boat came close enough, he grinned.

Time to work his magic.

The sound that he produced was not what he would call singing, though he heard humans describe it as such.  It was more of a beacon of pure sound, a calling to the sailors on the boat.

It took a second, but slowly, the ship turned, altering its course.

The waters became more agitated, choppy, as the ship approached.  Dirk filled the entire area with sound, and the waves began to crash against the side of the boat, ushering it closer and closer.

And suddenly, the boat was here.

It was indeed smaller than most, but the magnificence as the hull breached the first rocky pillar was still beautiful.  Dirk watched with rapt attention as the screams began aboard the ship.

The vessel crashed into the second jagged rock, and the wooden planks snapped like the bones of a fish caught between a shark’s teeth.  Dirk reveled in the sound of the destruction, the sight of the disorder.

He watched with nothing short of pleasure as the sailors lifted their beautiful voices in terror and jumped overboard into the water.  One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six.

And then it was over.  The last pieces of the boat sank below the water.

Dirk sighed, feeling post-orgasmic as he slipped into the water, swimming down into the depths of the cool current to watch the sailors swim back to shore.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.  He counted the sailors off, watching them swim easily to the shore not far away.

Wait.  There were six, weren’t there?

Concern flooded his system, down to his fingers and the tips of his tail.  Where was the last sailor?

Swiftly, Dirk swam back to where the boat had capsized.

It was a curious thing.  Never in his years had he found a sailor who couldn’t swim.  They were always strong. Robust.  Completely sea-worthy.

Yet this sailor, though he looked strong, robust, and completely sea-worthy, was clawing at the water as if he hadn’t a clue in the world what to do with it.  Small bubbles escaped his mouth as he reached frantically for the surface of the water.  For a moment, Dirk was quite perplexed.  Then he realized it.

He had finally found a sailor that couldn’t swim.

Quickly, he swam over to the sailor, noticing the frightened expression in his vivid emerald eyes.  Hooking his hands underneath the man’s arms, he quickly propelled them both to the surface of the water.  When they broke free into the open air, he heard the man gasp, sputter, and cough.

And then, the man _clung_.  His dark hair was still in his eyes, and he couldn’t see a damned thing, but he was clinging to Dirk’s shoulders like his life depended on it.  Considering he couldn’t swim, it probably did.

“Chill, bro.  I’ll get you to the shore,” Dirk said, trying out his vocal cords in the human range, letting the interesting flavor of the English language roll off his tongue.

Dirk found that swimming above the water with a struggling man was much harder than it seemed.  The guy didn’t seem reassured by his words at all, and he only held onto him tighter when they began moving.  But eventually, he made it to the shore.

Dirk chose a beach that was a good distance away from where the other sailors had swam.  Though the sailors were just now reaching the closest shore, he was able to swim them a much further distance away.  Mer tails for the win.

He didn’t really know what to do with the human, so Dirk kind of threw him onto the sand.  The man grasped at the wet sand and gasped, crawling further up the shore.  Slowly, he reached up to sweep the hair out of his eyes.

Dirk knew this was the moment when he should high tail it out of there.   Literally.  No member of his species had ever dared to make contact with a human before, much less stick around and make sure they were ok.  The other sirens hated humans.

But in that moment, Dirk couldn’t find anything to hate about this man.  Quite the opposite.  He was built spectacularly.  He was in what he would call the pinnacle of shape.  It was curious as to why he couldn’t swim.  Was this human defective somehow?

“Thank you old chap!” The human said quickly, between gasps of breath.  “That shipwreck gave me—quite the scare!”

Dirk didn’t say anything, instead waiting as the human slowly crawled back over to him as he caught his breath.  He watched curiously as the man extended his hand to him.  “The name’s Jake English!  And who might I thank for saving my life?”

Dirk watched as this self-proclaimed Jake English continued to hold his hand out to him.  After a few moments of silence, he extended his hand into the air between them as well.  “Dirk Strider.”

Jake laughed, leaning forward the extra few inches and grasping Dirk’s hand in his own.  Then, he gasped, “golly if you don’t have the most peculiar skin I’ve ever seen!  It’s quite radiant!  Dashing!”

Humans were so weird.  He was starting to see why other sirens never bothered talking to them.

Jake’s eyes widened, finally looking past his upper torso and down into the water.  “Holy smokes!  Is that—do you have a _tail?!_ ”

“Nope, it’s a mirage.  Your waterlogged brain is fabricating it out of pure necessity to survive,” Dirk answered.

Dirk wasn’t sure what kind of response he was expecting, but he didn’t expect Jake to reach down into the water and run his fingers along the scales of his tail.  He drew a short sharp intake of breath in surprise.  Breathing actual air felt so weird.

Jake’s human fingers were so _soft_ against his tail, and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t like the way it felt.  “Goodness, Strider, you’re an actual _mermaid_ aren’t you?!”

“I’m a siren,” Dirk responded automatically, slightly offended.

“What’s the difference?” Jake asked.

“Mermaids are airheads that swim around with fish and sing about how awesome it is to live under the sea.  Sirens—” Dirk paused his explanation, suddenly realizing that it might not be a great idea to divulge that _he_ was the one who endangered Jake’s life by wrecking his ship.  He’d tell him that little detail later.

Wait, later?  No.  Not later.  He didn’t plan to see Jake again, no matter how attractive he was.

Wait, attractive?  Fuck.

The attractive guy that he definitely wasn’t planning to see again later blinked his bright green eyes at him and smiled at him.  He was completely enthralled in Dirk’s explanation, and said “go on.  Sirens?”

“Sirens don’t do that,” Dirk responded lamely.  Then he sighed.  It was difficult to think with Jake running his fingers along his tail like he was doing.  The sensation was far too calming, too pleasant.  As much as he didn’t really want Jake to stop, he found himself grunting with irritation, “would you please stop touching my tail?”

“Oh!” Jake exclaimed, finally withdrawing his hands from the water.  “Terribly sorry! I hope that wasn’t painful!  I’ve just never seen one of your kind before and I’m horribly curious!  I have so many questions!  Can you breathe above and under water?  Do you get everywhere by swimming?  Do mermaids kiss? How does one even reproduce with a tail?”

Dirk blinked at him, not believing the questions he was hearing come out of this human’s mouth.  “No, that wasn’t painful.  Yes, I’m alive right now aren’t I?  I can breathe the air up here too.  Of course I get everywhere swimming.  That’s what the tail is for.  I’m a siren, not a mermaid, and yes we can kiss if so inclined.  I’d rather not talk about reproducing with a human.”

He realized a moment too late just how weird that last sentence sounded.  Oh well, couldn’t take it back now. Maybe Jake wouldn’t notice.

Jake’s eyes widened and continued to grow as Dirk quickly answered all of his questions in one rush.  “Strider, you are simply _fascinating!_   And umm… reproducing with a human? I wasn’t suggesting—”

“No more words, Jake,” Dirk cut in abruptly.  “None about that topic.”

“very well,” Jake agreed.  “Your voice—it’s nice.”

“—thank you,” Dirk murmured in response, not sure exactly how to take that.  He wasn’t used to receiving all these compliments.

“I bet you’d be a smashing singer!” Jake laughed.  “Now me, I’m afraid I couldn’t hold a tune if my life depended on it!”

Dirk didn’t feel like telling him just how close he was to the truth.  Then, he turned his head as shouts echoed from down the beach.  The other sailors were looking for Jake and approaching their position. 

Instinctively, Dirk flung himself back into the water.  Talking to one human was bad enough.  He couldn’t imagine having to speak with a whole group of them.  But hearing Jake sharply cry his name, he poked just his head out of the water.  “What do you want?  Make it quick.”

“I want to see you again,” Jake responded quickly, reaching into the water for the only thing he could see. Gently, he cupped his hand on the side of Dirk’s cheek.  “You’re an interesting fellow, and I feel I owe you more for saving my life.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Dirk murmured back.

“This beach, tomorrow,” Jake suggested.  “I’ll be here at the break of dawn if you will!”

How could he say no to those adorably excited eyes?  Sighing, he agreed, “yeah, sure.  See you tomorrow.”

As he swam away, Dirk couldn’t get Jake off his mind.  Once he was far enough away, he dared to surface half his head above the water and peek at what Jake was doing.  The other sailors were surrounding him while Jake gesticulated wildly in the air around him.  Dirk couldn’t stop himself from smiling.  There was something about Jake that he found very— _endearing_.

Dirk never thought it would happen, but he was actually looking forward to tomorrow.  He was excited about enjoying a human’s company further than crashing their boats into rocks, though he still intended to continue doing that.  He didn’t think he would ever lose his love of watching the beautiful destruction of those wooden vessels.  But while the rest of his kind were determined to hate the humans, he was beginning to think they weren’t so bad after all.

At least, one of them wasn’t.  Dirk couldn’t wait to see him again.  And eat him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't shoot me for this guys. This is a birthday present fic that should have gone on Tumblr, but Andrew Hussie has managed to make it crash tonight with his update. 
> 
> That said, Happy Birthday Matt!!! Hope you and Prince like this. You can thank Prince for the last sentence. ;)


	2. A Not So Difficult Decision

Every day, Jake showed up exactly at the promised time and place.  As the sun crested over the horizon, lighting the waters with a pinkish hue, Dirk always found him sitting on the beach, waving to him as if he were a long lost old friend.  It was strange, but he felt oddly drawn to the human. 

Jake was fascinating.  Dirk couldn’t put his finger on why, but he was.  He loved the way Jake talked and laughed.  The cacophony of words that came out of his mouth reminded him of the pleasant chaos of ship wrecks.

As Jake spoke, he could imagine the wood splintering against the rocks.  The metal reinforcement beams twisting and bending, plunging into the water.  He could hear the screams of the people onboard as the vessel sank into the waters.

And the waters.  He could picture the splash of the waves, crashing against the ships of the fleet.  The intensity of the relentless waters as blow after blow hit the side of the ships, bringing the other boats to the rocks where he would sit, his voice a clear channel beaconing them in.

When Jake spoke, he heard the same intensity in this human’s voice that he held in his heart.  The unusually articulate words were like the rich baritone of his voice, drawing him in and holding him captive.

It was dangerous, he realized suddenly.  He could get lost in this human.

Indeed, days flew by and turned into weeks.  Weeks turned into months.

He met Jake by the seashore every day, and he remained content to listen to the human talk about anything and everything. 

By the end of the first month, he felt he knew human culture. 

By the end of three, he felt he could travel the world with Jake.

And by half a year’s time, he knew that he was absolutely hopelessly in love with Jake English.

He had to spend more time with him.  He had to immerse himself in the human culture and truly find out for himself if Jake English was a thing that could happen.

But unfortunately, he hadn’t the faintest idea how to do that.  He was a siren, bound to the sea by his tail.   He couldn’t just leave with Jake and travel everywhere with him.  He needed legs for that.  Something a siren could never have.

So Dirk did what any moody siren would do.  When he wasn’t with Jake, he sat on his rocks, beaconing ship after ship to him.  His voice poured out over the ocean and the coast, drawing even sailboats and hapless fishing vessels.

As usual, Dirk never let the humans in the boats die.  He always made sure they safely swam back to the shore.

But it seemed that, no matter how many boats he destroyed, it wasn’t enough.

Nothing could fill the void in his heart that Jake English had created.  Knowing that he could never be with the man he loved was devastating.

And one day, as he sat by the rocks, the last person he wanted to see came to visit him.

“Bro, I hear you’ve been takin’ all the ships.  Wooing them like they’re little teenaged girls to the prom and you’re some fat-cat lightin’ a cigar with your hundred dollar bill, waving them to your stretch-limousine and bragging about your diamond studded suit jacket.”

“How do you even _know_ about half those things?” Dirk grumbled, turning to face the source of his annoyance.

Dave.  His older brother always enjoyed being a nuisance in his life.

“You’re not the only one who can talk to humans,” Dave said, sitting up on the rock beside him.

Dirk sighed.  “Don’t do this.”

“I’ve gotta,” Dave replied.  “It’s my duty as your older bro to steer your little dingy boat in the right direction.  Can’t let them all crash into the rocks.”

“What if I want it to?” Dirk responded glumly.

“Then I’d say you’re dumb as shit for not tryin’ to live with him first.”

“The fuck are you even going on about?” Dirk growled.

“Livin’ with him as a human.”

Slowly, Dirk turned to face his brother.  “You can’t be serious.  You’ve lost your minnows.”

“My minnows are still swimmin’ happily in my head, thank you very much,” Dave replied, fanning his tail casually on the rock.  “Dude, bro, there’s a way.”

“I don’t believe you.  It doesn’t make any sense. Logically—” Dirk began.

“Logically _we_ don’t make sense.  As you’d say, what the actual fuck, right?  Half fish people swimmin’ around luring boats to Davy Jones’ Locker,” Dave seemed to catch himself in his rant and paused.  “I’ve done it.”

“No,” Dirk murmured, refusing to believe it.

“Yeah.”

“No.”

“It was a thing.”

“No it wasn’t.  It wasn’t a thing.  You weren’t a human.”

“Don’t be an idiot,” Dave said, shoving Dirk by his shoulder for even suggesting that.  “Legs or not, we’ll always be sirens.  John understood that.  He knew I had to be by the sea.  Why’d you think I came back? For your sorry ass?  Nope, don’t think so.”

Both brothers sat in silence for a while, slowly absorbing the tragedy that was their lives.  Eventually, Dirk broke the silence. “How do I do it?”

“First you have to sing to a fuck-ton of fish. And then you find a half octopus sea witch named Ursula—” Dave began, but didn’t make it any farther before Dirk shoved him into the water.  He resurfaced, snickering to himself.  “Had you goin’ for a second there, didn’t I?”

“You’re the actual worst,” Dirk muttered gloomily.

Dave rested his arms on the rock, leaning lazily against it, as if his next words didn’t matter at all.  “But in all seriousness, it’s possible.  The change is pretty easy the first time.  It’s a lot harder the second.  And a third? Don’t waste your time trying.”

“How do you know this?”  Dirk asked cautiously.

“Don’t you remember Eridan?” Dave answered quietly.

Of course they both remembered Eridan.  The prince of the sirens that fell for a human. 

It was a tragic story that didn’t have a happy ending.  Drawn to his princely duties, Eridan changed back and forth one too many times.   Until he couldn’t.  He was stuck in siren form for the rest of his life.  The love of his life refused to continue living with a fish.  When the human took its life, Eridan took his.

“I’m not endin’ up like him,” Dirk said.

“You will if you keep this up,” Dave said, a solemnness in his voice.  “You’re killin’ yourself now.  I can’t let my baby bro do that in good conscience, which is why I’m tellin’ you all this.”

“Eridan could only do it because he was a prince,” Dirk spat back. “He had special abilities we don’t.”

“Not true, lil bro,” Dave said, an unusual gravity to his words.  “All sirens have the ability.”

Silence settled between them again. 

Eventually, Dave sighed and said, “it’s actually so easy it’s stupid.  All you have to do is hold a human’s hand and will yourself to have legs like them.”

Dirk blinked back at him incredulously.  “That’s it?”

“That’s it,” Dave nodded. “I wish I was makin’ that up.  You can try it for a day or something.  The first time’s practically a freebie.  But you have to mean it the second time, because after that, you’re outta chances.”

“What if I don’t ever come back?” Dirk asked quietly.

“The sea’ll call you,” Dave answered seriously.  “It’ll be hard to ignore.”

And suddenly, without any further words spoken between them, Dirk knew the truth.  “You did try it, didn’t you?”

When Dave didn’t respond, Dirk continued, “are you on try number 3?”

“Number 2,” Dave finally sighed.  “John’s waitin’ for me.  I wanted to see your lame ass again before I go for good.”

No further words needed to be spoken between them.  It was a silent understanding.  A wordless goodbye.

“You’ll keep your siren abilities, so be careful,” Dave cautioned.  “You can still call people, but if you’re not careful the whole world’ll be at your doorstep.”

“Thanks, bro,” Dirk finally murmured.

“Don’t mention it,” Dave replied, slipping back into the water.  “Really, don’t.  Maybe next time I see you we’ll both have legs.”

And with that he was gone, leaving Dirk with a not so difficult decision.

Tomorrow, he could finally take his first steps into the world. 

Tomorrow, he would start his life with Jake English.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the shortest chapter of anything I've ever written. Be proud of me? XD
> 
> Please enjoy [this song!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqVnm16pK_8) I sadly didn't like the 4th Pirates of the Caribbean movie, but I loved the first one! This song is easily the best part of the 4th movie.


	3. First Steps

Starting his life with Jake English wasn’t as easy as he had thought it would be.  The next day, when Dirk swam to the shore to meet him, Jake was waiting, barely able to contain his excitement as he bounced on his heels.

Dirk smiled, resting his body on a rock by the shore that they had decided to make their meeting place long ago.  He laid on the rock lazily, letting the orange scales of his tail dip back into the ocean now and then so he wouldn’t dry up in the sun.  “What’s got you so excited?”

“They’re talking about rebuilding the ship!” Jake exclaimed to him happily, that ever present animated excitement in his bright green eyes.  “That means someday my mates and I will be able to go sailing again!”

This wasn’t the first time Jake had brought up his ship, or how much he missed sailing, despite still having not learned to swim.  Still, Dirk always felt a little bit guilty about it.  It was technically _his_ fault that Jake had lost his job sailing.  Of course, Jake was a resourceful man.  He had found another job working in the market easily, but he missed sailing.

Dirk thought about it, and the more he debated, the more clear things became.  Carefully, he held out his hands, with his palms turned up. 

Gently, he took Jake’s hands in his.

This wasn’t the first time he had touched Jake, but they didn’t make contact very often.  Feeling Jake’s warm dry skin was always a little bit exhilarating.  He was touching a human. Another being.  That in itself was special, but it wasn’t what excited him the most.

He was touching Jake.

He was touching the human he had fallen completely in love with.

“Jake, I’m going to show you something today,” Dirk said, looking straight into his eyes.  “This may not be easy.  It might take a few tries, but I’m willing to be patient if you are.”

“Of course, Strider,” Jake said, likely grasping that something very large was at stake here.  “What do you plan to show me?”

“Something that I hope will positively affect your life forever,” the siren said, his orange eyes never wavering for a second.

“Well don’t keep me in suspense!” Jake said, a small laugh in his voice.

“Today,” Dirk began, pausing for one more meaningful moment. “I am showing you how to swim.”

“Wha—!!” Jake exclaimed, his words cut off as Dirk pulled him into the water.  Jake was already wearing shorts and a t-shirt, so his clothing wouldn’t weigh him down much.  Dirk was quick to retrieve his sandals, tossing them onto the shore so that Jake could wear them again later.  “Dirk I—I can’t swim!!”

“I know,” Dirk said, ignoring how tightly Jake was holding onto his shoulders or how deep his fingers were digging into his back. 

“Dirk this is—!! Why are you—!!  I can’t believe—!!” Jake exclaimed hysterically.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you.  I won’t let you drown.  I saved you once already, remember?”  Calmly, he swam out into deeper water, past the waves, until they reached a place where the ocean was serene.  The gently bobbing water surrounded them as Dirk waited for Jake to calm down. 

Eventually, Jake stopped shaking against him, but his grip remained firm.  “Why are you doing this?” he finally asked.

“Cause you’re a good bro to me, Jake.  Practically _are_ my bro at this point.  I like you better than him anyway,” Dirk said, feeling like he was flubbing around with his words a little bit.  It didn’t matter how uncool he looked right now though. Jake needed to learn to swim.  “I’ll follow you anywhere I can, but I might not always be there for you.  You’ve gotta know how to swim on your own, especially if you’re gonna be a sailor.”

To Dirk’s surprise, Jake seemed less bothered by the whole force-learning or being dragged out into the ocean.  Instead, he eyed him with surprise and repeated, “follow me anywhere?”

“Yep, you heard me. This relationship is tight as two halves of a clam’s shell,” Dirk agreed.  He couldn’t be certain, but the look Jake gave him seemed almost—touched?  But rather than dwell on that, he instead moved his hands firmly beneath Jake’s ribcage.  “Anyway, we need to get you swimmin’.  Don’t worry, I’ll always have you.”

“You promise?” Jake asked uncertainly.

“Promise,” the siren responded easily.

Over the next few hours, Dirk showed Jake the basics of human swimming.  He could show Jake what he did with his hands and arms, but since the human didn’t have a tail, he had to infer the rest from what he had observed from other humans.  He thought back to the human sailors as they swam away from the wreckage of their ships.

Their limbs did a peculiar dance in the water as pieces of the wreckage slowly sunk around them.  They grasped the water with their hands as if they were reaching for life, their legs kicking in a desperate struggle to get away. At times their feet would even kick off pieces of the broken wood as it floated around them.

The entire ocean floor beneath Dirk’s rocks shone with the metal of the wreckage. 

Dirk couldn’t get enough.

But he was getting distracted.  He couldn’t waste his time on sinking ships anymore.  He had a mission.

By the end of the day, Jake was slightly less afraid of water. 

By the end of the week, he could make the basic motions that the other humans made in the water.

By the end of the month, Jake could swim.

Jake English was by no means a champion swimmer.  Dirk doubted he ever would be, but he could hold his own now.  If Jake ever ran into trouble on the seas, Dirk was confident that the human could at least swim to a piece of driftwood, or in the best circumstances he could swim all the way to the shore.

As a final test, the siren brought Jake out to the rocks where he had wrecked Jake’s ship months ago.  Dirk eyed the rocks longingly.  He felt the compulsion to sit on them and call a boat or two to his side.  He had spent so much time with Jake in the past month that he hadn’t really fed his addiction to shipwrecks.

But he had a goal to focus on. He had another purpose right now and he couldn’t get distracted.

He turned to Jake and said, “all right.  This is where I found you that day we met.  Prove to me you can make it to the shore.”

“Right-o!  I’ll show you how much I’ve learned from you, old chap!”  Jake chirped cheerily.

“I’ll be with you the whole time,” Dirk reassured him, but it didn’t seem like Jake needed reassuring anymore.  Jake wasn’t afraid.  He was ready for this. 

Slowly, Dirk let go of Jake’s hands.  He beamed with pride as Jake took off, swimming strongly for the shore.  Not once did the human falter or gasp for air.  He powered through on the surface of the water, taking breaths when necessary and swimming with purpose for the shore.

When Jake finally stepped onto the sandy shore, Dirk clapped his hands together in a very human gesture of pride.  Jake turned to him, a giant smile on his face, and bowed deeply.  Breathlessly, he said, “why thank you, thank you!”

“You’ve put a lot of faith in me,” Dirk said, swimming to the shore and taking Jake’s hands in his own.  “It’s time for me to place mine in you.”

“Dirk?” Jake asked, looking at him breathlessly and quizzically.

“Be patient with me, ok?  I’ve never tried this before,” Dirk murmured, a strangely vulnerable expression crossing his face.  His features contorted as he focused all of his thoughts on one thing.

He wanted to be human.  He wanted to be human and live with Jake.

It was a weird feeling.  Not painful, but not comfortable either. It was like his tail had suddenly become jelly, drifting apart in different directions, before becoming solid again.  At first he couldn’t move anything at all, he could only cling to Jake’s hands, which were his only method of grounding himself in this world.

Then, he finally opened his eyes. He hadn’t realized he had even closed them.  Hesitantly he glanced down and laughed softly.  “That asshole wasn’t lying.”

In place of his tail were two legs.  They were a light peach-ish color, similar to the rest of his body, and when he tried to move them, they twitched this way and that in the water.

“Jiminy Christmas!  Dirk do you have LEGS?!” Jake exclaimed in amazement.

“Yeah, it looks like I do,” Dirk replied, laughing softly. “But I’ve never used them before so…”

Before Dirk could even finish, Jake had pulled him from the water and to his feet.  Dirk gasped, kicking his new legs awkwardly around until he was able to plant his heels in the sand like Jake.

Jake laughed and said, “now you know how I feel when you pull me out into the ocean!”  But despite his laughter, Jake was actually remarkably patient with Dirk.  For quite some time, they both struggled to help Dirk stand.  Jake helped the siren out as he wobbled and contorted on the beach, looking like he was doing a complicated belly-dance.

It took some time, but finally Dirk managed to stand up straight in the sand on his own two feet.  Jake giggled as he gingerly held his hands out to steady him, then took a small step back.

Dirk stood proudly on his own two human legs. 

He was so fuckin’ proud.

He was part of a miracle. 

He was—falling down.

Quickly Jake swooped in to catch him, chuckling as he helped him regain his balance.  “I get the feeling this is going to take some time!  But fret not, Dirk.  I’m here for you,” Jake said, pulling Dirk closer, almost into what some would consider a hug.  “I’ll always be here for you.”

Those words alone filled Dirk with more hope than anything else.  He knew that with Jake literally by his side, he could accomplish anything.  Even walking on these perplexing human legs.

“Ready for our first steps?” Jake asked, smiling at him brightly.

“Yeah,” he agreed.  “Yeah, I think I am.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy 2015 everyone! For this year, and this story, I'm going to continue trying something new. Shorter chapters with more frequent updates. 
> 
> I'm still not 100% sure how I feel about this story, so comments and feedback are appreciated!


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